You can specify a hierarchical structure within viewsheet visualization elements such as crosstab tables and maps. This hierarchy facilitates interactive drilling operations, i.e., viewing data at different levels of detail. This interactivity is provided by the Drill Box element, demonstrated in the following example.
1. Launch the Visual Composer, by clicking Start → All Programs → Style Intelligence → Style Intelligence Examples.
2. Select the ‘User Portal’ link. Once the Report Portal is open, select the Design tab and click on the ‘Visual Composer’ link.
3. Click on the ‘New Viewsheet’ button on the top toolbar. This will open the ‘New Viewsheet’ dialog.
4. Expand the ‘Global Worksheet’ node and the ‘Tutorial’ folder. Select the ‘ProductSales’ data worksheet, and click ‘OK’.
5. Drag a crosstab element from the ‘Component’ pane to the viewsheet.
6. In the top toolbar of the crosstab, click on the ‘Edit’ button to open the data binding dialog of the crosstab.
7. Select the ‘Orders:Order Model’ OLAP cube option from the list titled ‘Select Table...’.
8. Expand the ‘Dimensions’ node by clicking on the arrows to the left side. Drag the ‘Product’ attribute into the region labeled ‘Column Headers (X Axis)’.
9. Expand the ‘Measures’ node by clicking on the arrows to the left side. Drag the ‘Quantity Purchased’ attribute into the region labeled ‘Measures (Y Axis)’
10. Click on the ‘Apply’ button (the arrow on the top right) to return to the crosstab view.
11. Drag a Drill Box element from the ‘Component’ pane into the viewsheet. (A Drill Box is a selection element that lets you drill down on a crosstab table.)
12. Right-click on the title row of the Drill Box and select the ‘Properties’ option from the drop-down list. This opens the ‘Drill Box Properties’ dialog:
a. Set the ‘Target’ to the crosstab that the Drill Box will control.
b. Set the ‘Selection Mode’ to ‘Single Value’ if you want a drop-down drill box, or ‘Multiple Value’ if you want a multi-select drill box. (We use ‘Single Value’ for this example.)
c. Click ‘OK’.
13. Test the drill box: Select ‘Educational’ from the drop-down list.
14. Resize the Drill Box as desired. Preview the viewsheet, and select ‘Personal’ from the drop-down selection list.
As you make changes using the Drill Box, you will see that the Crosstab results are immediately updated. This helps you to explore the different products and the quantities purchased for each category.
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